Final verdict on Housing Bank case expected ‘within days’

AMMAN – A final verdict by a Swiss court in the case known as "Housing Bank Stakes" is expected to be out in the "very near future", according to a government official. 

The official, who requested anonymity, said the verdict could be issued in a matter of days, adding that signals indicate the ruling will be in favour of the state-run Social Security Investment Fund (SSIF). 

A lawsuit was filed at a Swiss court some two years ago by a Qatari firm that alleges it bought the fund’s stake in the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance (HBTF)  — Jordan’s second largest bank — requesting the SSIF to pay over JD93 million for failing to implement the alleged agreement to sell its stake. 

According to SSIF Chairman Suleiman Hafez the alleged agreement of buying the fund's 38.8 million shares in HBTF was signed on March 18, 2012.

The company was owned by Qatari businesspeople, registered in the Central American country of Belize under the name of Al Musabalah Doha Capital.

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, former chairman of SSIF Yaser Odwan, whose signature allegedly appeared on the sale document as seller of the stake, denied his knowledge of the deal and said that he never met or was contacted by any means by representatives of the Qatari company. 

The government has always insisted on describing the alleged deal as a fraud attempt by the Qatari firm, which has no business records in the Gulf state. 

The official told The Jordan Times Sunday that the London Court of International Arbitration rejected last week a request by the plaintiff — Al Musabalah — to change a Swiss arbitrator, accusing the arbitrator of conflict of interest due to claims of having "good ties" with the law firm defending the SSIF. 

The law firm representing the fund is from Switzerland.

"We are very optimistic that we will win the case as all indicators show the strong position of the social security fund," the source added. 

The verdict by the Zurich-based court was due in December last year; then was expected to be issued in May of this year, according to the official.